Ripped Apart
by HilaryHilary
Summary: As Seth and Summer grow older and start a life together, Summer wonders if what they had was enough for a lifetime. As their daughter grows, she quickly realizes what she doesn't want: her parent's life.
1. Midnight Confrontations

Ripped Apart

It was late at night, but not too late. It was in the hours between bedtime and the time where everyone is sleeping. There was only two words for Summer to say about this kind of time of night: Too Late.

Usually, she would have been in bed. She wasn't old enough to go to bed at nine, but she was hardly a teenager anymore. In fact, she wasn't anything like a teenager. She was thirty-eight years old, a wife and a mother. A Newpsie, try as she might to deny it.

Without meaning to, she breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the front door ease open, the lights click on, footsteps come toward her. Just to torture him, she didn't turn around when he entered the room she was waiting for him in. They'd been married seventeen years, and still they played games.

"Hey Summer, you're still up," said Seth in surprise when he saw her dark head, perfectly still, from across the room.

He walked over to her. Tolerantly she accepted his light kiss. Her heart lightened at his smile-twenty years later, he still seemed amazed that she was his.

"You sound surprised I'm still up. You know why. Because it's ELEVEN THIRTY!" she yelled, her voice getting progressively louder.

"I was busy. We're negotiating for a new property," he explained, refusing to fight with her.

"You're always negotiating! You have thousands of properties! You've made us filthy, stinking rich! Why does it matter anymore?" she raged on. He looked around: he had made them rich. Very rich. Their mansion was closer to Caleb's size than the one of his parent's, the pool house was vast, they enjoyed a life greater than most of the other Newport citizens.

"So what, you think I should retire? Stay home all day wearing sweatsuits, look over your shoulder, follow you around, help you organize your charity events? Embrace the Newpsie life?" he said. He went over to the fridge and poured himself a glass of orange juice.

"God what are you, two? It could at least be scotch," she said nastily. He took a deep breath and forced himself not to snap at her.

"Look, I'm sorry I was home late. I'll try hard to be home in time for dinner," said Seth.

"You'd better be. Coops and Chino are coming over for dinner tomorrow night, and they're still under the mistaken conviction that we're the perfect couple," she said.

"You do realize that 'Coops' had been an Atwood for seventeen years?" he inquired.

"Stop changing the subject, Seth," she said. His head whipped around to face her in surprise. The name sounded so completely… wrong on her lips, he almost couldn't bring himself to respond to it.

"Don't call me that," he said, surprising both of them.

"Don't tell me what to do!" she shot back.

Immediately feeling guilty, he walked around the island in the kitchen to reach her, and took both of her hands in his. Unbidden, she looked up and met his eyes.

"Summer. I know we may not be the perfect married couple, but I'm quite sure there's no such thing. Believe it or not, I'd be fairly sure that even Ryan and Marissa fight occasionally. But I'm absolutely certain that no matter what time I get home I'm still crazy about you, and I'd be happy to climb on this counter and say so," he said. She smiled, she yielded. He always won. He _always_ did.

They walked upstairs together, straining for the sounds of their daughter on the third floor, trying to determine if she was even awake. Such things mattered to them.

Seth dropped onto the king sized bed and waited for her as she stripped off her shirt and revealed her bra. He grinned. He couldn't help it. Despite being almost forty, the CEO of the Newport Group, a multi-millionaire and the father of one, he couldn't help grinning. She still turned him on.

She approached him slowly, climbing atop him. He gripped her thighs as she leaned down to kiss him, and they fell backwards on the bed.

They rolled over so she was underneath him. His hand went around her an undid her bra strap.

She started when she felt an odd vibration coming for his hip, but groaned when his cell phone rang. He reached for it.

"Cohen, you're not seriously going to answer? It's like, midnight," she reminded him.

"I know, but it will just take one second. Wait right there," he instructed, moving off to the bathroom to answer his phone.

It didn't take one second. It took five minutes. And by the time these five minutes were up, Summer was in bed, pretending to be asleep. He smiled, not overly fooled.

But despite this he got into bed beside her, kissed her cheek and bid her goodnight.


	2. Life as a Lie

Chapter Two: Life as a Lie

The next day started early for Summer, in preparation for her best friend and her brother-in-law (in a way) to come visit. They lived close by, their children all went to the same school, but still she desired to impress them.

She barked commands at the staff, nervously checking over everything they did, from dusted tables to the food they cooked. They began to roll their eyes at the mistress of the house, being so unusually involved in their work. Most of the time she barely took an interest. She didn't have to.

"Wow. Is it Grady Bridges coming over, or my brother and his wife?" asked Seth, looking around at the bustling household. Apparently, it was not the right day to joke with Summer Cohen.

"He's not your brother. Have you seen Coop's house? It's always so perfect," she said.

"You're sweet. Calm down. And perfect, so unlike this place?" he asked, looking around. White marble sparkled, mahogany wood shined, sofa cushions sat in perfect order. He could smell gourmet food from the kitchen. Sometimes he missed the takeout days.

"Yes, so unlike this place. Look at this!" she said, running a finger over the mantel and showing him the dirt she procured. Seth was surprised. Was this the same Summer who had once obsessed over the Valley, partying and Juicy sweat suits? It didn't seem possible.

"They'll clean it. Come on, why don't you and me get out into the hot tub, unwind a little?" he suggested.

"Back off," she said sharply when he moved to place a hand on her arm.

"Okay then. I'll just go wake our daughter," he said, backing away. She laughed. He did help with her nerves.

He walked slowly up two staircases of polished mahogany. And these were only the back staircases-the front ones curved and were made of marble.

"Kaya?" he called into his daughter's room, once he'd reached the third floor. She had almost the whole floor to herself, in something of a suite.

"Daddy?" she called sleepily. Kaya was sixteen, and eleven in the morning was very early for a teenager.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said. He entered quickly, fearing she'd fall quickly back asleep.

She was lying in her bed with her eyes closed, presumably to block out the Californian sun that was streaming through the window.

"Your mother's going crazy cleaning the house and the Atwoods will be here within an hour so you should probably start making yourself beautiful," suggested Seth.

"Like I have to try," she said airily, swinging over her legs and landing them on the floor.

"Now satisfied that you are alive, I'm going away now. Be ready," he warned.

Not being terribly concerned himself with the arrival of the couple's best friends, he took to his study and began to pursue a Batman comic.

He jumped up when the doorbell rang. He still had a case of hero worship for his 'brother'. He missed Seth Ryan time. He suspected that underneath his surliness, Ryan did too.

Seth met his wife in the entrance hall and proudly put his hands on her shoulders while the maid answered the door. All ceremony was lost when the door opened and the four of them entered-Ryan, Marissa and their seventeen year old fraternal twins.

"Coop!" said Summer joyfully, rushing forward to greet her best friend. They hugged, laughing.

"Seth," said Ryan, seeing him behind his wife. Ryan struck out his hand, but Seth ignored it and hugged him. After a moment of shock, Ryan recovered and patted Seth's back.

"Hey Garrett, Zannie. What's up?" asked Seth. Garrett Sanford Atwood was the elder of the two by seven minutes. He was on the soccer team. He was ridiculously popular. He was a God. Suzanne Kirsten Atwood (Zannie) was beautiful and beloved in Harbor School society.

"Hey Uncle Seth," said Garrett.

"Hey. Is Kai around?" asked Zannie. Zannie and Kaya had been best friends all their lives.

"KAYA RYAN COHEN!" yelled Summer at the top of her lungs.

"God, I'm here," came Kaya's exasperated voice. Kaya never entered a room, she Made An Entrance.

She appeared at the top of the curving marble staircase and began to walk down it. She was gifted in walking down staircases-head high, even movements. No one could ever not notice her. Her dark curly hair was loose about her shoulders, bouncing carelessly. Her deep brown eyes were wide open, her thick long eyelashes fluttering.

Her demure, sophisticated appearance was thrown off when she saw her best friend.

"Zannie!" she said excitedly. Disregarding her tall Manola Blahnik sandals she ran the rest of the way and flung herself into her arms, as though it had been years instead of hours that the girls had last been together.

"Hey Kai. You look good," complimented Zannie.

"Obviously. Hey Garrett," she said, acknowledging the tall blondish boy.

"Hey Kai. I was wondering if I'd ever get acknowledged," he said, wrapping Kaya in a bone-crushing hug.

"Like you could ever not, seeing as it's impossible not to notice your impossibly large ego," said Kaya. Summer smiled. She was proud of her daughter, far from reprimanding.

"Guys, we're going to the living room to have appetizers. Care to join us?" asked Summer. She watched her daughter visibly blanche, Garrett and Zannie attempt to remain polite.

"God no. We're going to the pool house," she said. The other two followed her through the glass patio doors, around the large pool and into the pool house.

"She's exactly like you, Summ," commented Marissa as she joined the other three.

"Bit sarcastic too," said Ryan.

"She's just warming up," said Seth proudly. Summer jokingly slapped his arm, and Seth caught her hand and held it.

"I'd imagine. By the way, I still can't believe you named the kid after me," said Ryan.

"Well, she turned out to be our only kid. You wouldn't want to miss out, would you?" asked Seth.

"And besides, it's a gender neutral name," added Summer. The four of them laughed. Sixteen years ago, unable to decide on a name for their new daughter, they'd flipped a coin and agreed that Summer would come up with the first name, Seth with the second. In the event of a second child, they agreed to switch. Summer had come up with Kaya, and Seth had decided on Ryan.

"Yeah Ryan, it's a very feminine name," said Marissa, switching sides to join the Cohen's. Ryan rolled his eyes at all of them.

The Cohen's pool house was large, airy and bright. Like the elder Cohen's had been, it was decorated primarily in light colours. It was considerably larger than Seth's parents had been, but was not actually inhabited by anyone.

"I can't believe Dad used to live in one of these," said Zannie upon entering.

"Yeah. I mean the private bathroom, the personal kitchen, the closure…" said Garrett.

"If Mom and Dad let you live in our pool house you'd set fire to it," shot back his twin.

"Wow, I'm so sad I don't have any siblings," said Kaya sarcastically.

"Oh, you should be. Pure joy every waking minute," said Zannie, deftly flicking her brother. Kaya laughed when he winced.

"Hey, remember what's next week?" asked Kaya excitedly.

"It's cotillion! So excited. But I hope Grandma isn't in charge," said Zannie, wincing.

"Why not?" asked Kaya, in blatant surprise. She loved her grandmother.

"Oh, Julie, not Kirsten. Mom told me she's kind of a head case about cotillion. So Garrett, who are you going with?" asked Suzanne.

"Oh, I'm not going," he replied airily, helping himself to a soda from the fridge.

"Ooh, it means he doesn't have one. It's time to set you up, Garrett Sanford Atwood," said Kaya excitedly. Even she reacted in surprise. The name didn't seem to belong to Garrett, it made him sound so noble and far away from them.

"Yep. I'm going with Calvin Hill," bragged Zannie about her date, the captain of the water polo team. Kaya wrinkled her nose. She felt herself above water poloers.

"Josh Franklin. He's hot," said Kaya, not having great knowledge of him besides this.

"Yeah, totally. I hear he has like, a brain, too," said Garrett, badly imitating her voice. Kaya punted a throw pillow at him, and the two of them laughed.

"Why does he always have to come with you guys?" moaned Kaya, dropping back on to the bed.

"I should never have been born a twin," agreed Zannie. Garrett scoffed. They ganged up on him, but the three were fairly tight. They had no choice but to be, what with the relations of their parents.

"Hey, want to go swimming?" suggested Kaya eagerly a moment later. Zannie shrugged agreeably.

"You don't have…" he began, staring while Kaya stripped down to a lacy butter yellow bra and matching underwear, and his sister did the same.

"Technicalities, Atwood. Now come on, are you coming?" demanded Kaya as she and Zannie ran out the glass door and jumped in the clear blue pool.

Garrett, left alone, went down to his boxers and walked out, feeling very proud of (in his opinion) his tight stomach muscles, his bulging biceps. The only problem with Garrett's pride was that it was justified-he did have a 'hot body'. He was a good athlete. His grades were near perfect. He was the perfect Newport guy.

He dove into the pool to join his sister and Kaya. The three of them splashed around, enjoying each other's company while their parent sat inside and remembered similar days.


	3. What You Mean To Me

Chapter Three: What You Mean To Me

"That was fun," said Seth, waving to Ryan and Marissa's car as they drove off. Summer glanced at him and her look softened. It had been fun. They'd been relaxed and natural and it had almost been like the high school days, but for their three collective children.

"Yeah. It was," she said, moving in to him slightly.

Kaya watched her parents critically. She was fairly sure they were still in love, but displays of affection seemed few and far between. It had been different when she was younger. When the family had lived in a moderately sized mansion, instead of the colossus they now occupied. Seth had never been home after eight. Things had changed when Kirsten had retired and he'd become the CEO. Around the same time Summer had become a full time Newpsie and had begun to obsess over charity events and nose jobs. Or maybe just charity events. Nose jobs had always mattered to her.

The three of them wandered into the kitchen, at ease for once. Thankfully the maid had cleared out, and they had the house to themselves again.

"Were you swimming in your underwear?" asked Seth of his daughter. Kaya blushed. She'd forgotten how transparent the entire house was.

"And my bra," she said lightly. Summer snorted in attempt to hold back a laugh. Kaya flashed a secret smile at her mother.

"Around that Garrett kid? He's bad news," said Seth.

"'That Garrett kid'? You mean your nephew who you've known since the day he was born? And bad news? He's a Newport kid, what could he possibly come to?" asked Summer.

"He is Ryan's son," reminded Seth.

"Why does that matter?" asked Kaya curiously. Her parents laughed.

"Ryan caused some trouble for a while. You know Luke, Aunt Marissa's old boyfriend? They used to fight pretty much weekly," revealed Summer. Seth laughed at how badly she was downplaying the whole thing.

"Huh. Luke looks like a Ken doll," contributed Kaya.

"That's my girl," said Seth proudly.

"Luke turned out okay," said Summer.

"Yeah, eventually. Until he and Julie started…" said Seth. Summer elbowed him sharply. Kaya raised her eyebrows, but decided the best thing would be to say nothing.

"I need new shoes," she said instead. Seth rolled his eyes.

"Right, for cotillion. We'll go to South Coast tomorrow. Unless you want to go with Zannie?" asked Summer carefully. Kaya looked up and smiled at her mother. Despite the fact that she was a teenage girl, she and her mother had a mostly amicable relationship. Especially at South Coast Plaza.

"No, we should go," she assured her.

"I can't believe we have to go to cotillion," moaned Seth.

"Shut up, you're going. After all the planning that goes into this thing… Do you know that I don't yet have one white Knight, yet two dateless girls? I'm totally screwed," complained Summer.

"Garrett's dateless, but he'd never be caught dead as a white night," commented Kaya. Seth and Summer exchanged smiled behind their daughter's back

"How is Garrett dateless?" asked Summer.

"Garrett never has girlfriends. Just flings," clarified Kaya. She wandered off, leaving her parents by themselves.

"Flings. That kid couldn't have flings if they… jumped on him," said Seth.

"They probably do. He looks just like Ryan. And anyway, what do you know about flings? Who has there been, besides me?" asked Summer.

"Well there was Alex. And Anna. And the Vegas girl," said Seth.

"My point exactly. You know, I saw Zack last week. He's looking pretty fine," said Summer. Seth closed the gap between them and took her in his arms.

"You're a cruel woman, Summer Cohen," he said, leaning down to kiss her.

Kaya was still thinking about Garrett Atwood when she progressed upstairs. He was hot. He was his parent's best friend's son. Why couldn't she be in love with him? It would be so very convenient.

And it wasn't like he wasn't physically attractive. Because he was. Physically, she was very attracted to him. It was this that most likely triggered what they invariably did after parties that left them both drunk. And even occasionally in between, when either or both of them got bored. But Kaya knew she couldn't be with someone like Garrett, who would sleep with her when she wanted him but treat her like a sister the rest of the time.

Though watching her father's reaction would almost make it worthwhile.


	4. Fathers and Daughters

Chapter Four

Seth looked up as Kaya wandered into the kitchen, talking animatedly into the portable phone. After a few seconds of pretending to casually read his newspaper while actually eavesdropping, he realized she was talking to Zannie Atwood.

"Kai, pass," he stage whispered. She scowled at him in a perfect replica of her mother.

"Talking here," she whispered back, while Zannie spoke.

"I know, to Zannie," said Seth.

"And you desperately need to talk to Zannie?" asked Kaya, dropping the phone to speak to her father.

"No, to Ryan. We're supposed to go sailing," explained Seth.

"Oh, gotcha. So it's a sailing emergency," said Kaya, accompanied with an eye roll. "Zannie, can you get your dad? Daddy wants to talk."

"Dad went with Mom to go visit Aunt Kaitlyn. He said to tell Seth he was sorry, they'd reschedule," said Zannie.

"Daddy, Ryan and Marissa went out," said Kaya briefly.

"What? We were supposed to sail!"

"And then he went out," said Kaya, moving to bring the phone back to her ear. As her father's angry expression turned to sadness, she couldn't help but feel pity for him. The kind of people that were like Seth would always envy those like Ryan, and feel inadequate.

"Zannie, I'm going to have to call you back. I'm going sailing," said Kaya. Seth looked up sharply at his teenage daughter. At the best of times they didn't communicate well. She was sixteen, and much more like Summer than like him. And he hadn't grown up with sisters.

"You don't know how to sail," said Seth slowly, after Zannie had said goodbye.

"Then you could teach me. Fathers and daughter sail, Daddy," she said. He still looked completely lost without Summer around to interpret her.

"What Fathers and daughters sail?" he asked suspiciously. Kaya floundered for a moment.

"Rachel from Friends. She used to sail all the time, remember? Now I'm going to get changed. You'd better hope I don't change my mind," she called, exiting the room. Seth smiled and shook his head ruefully. He'd never expected to have a daughter like that. However, when he'd been around her age he'd never imagined marrying Summer Roberts and becoming a multi millionaire.

Kaya looked dubiously at her father's boat as they stepped onto the dock. Seth easily and confidently stepped onto the boat and sat down. Kaya looked anxiously at how it bobbled in the cold, deep water.

"How..?" she asked. He stuck out his hand for her and she took it, quickly hopping in and sitting down. He handed her a lifejacket.

"See this? This is the boom. It'll hurt you. You uh steer with that, move the sail with that rope there. It's not that complicated," he said, pointing to the various parts of the boat.

"Okay."

"So if I said starboard, where would you go?" he asked nervously.

"Uh, the right. Duh, Daddy. I have been to camp," she said, throwing her dark curls back from her face.

"How could I forget?"

"So how far have you been on this thing?" asked Kaya curiously.

"Tahiti," he said.

"Seriously?"

"No, it was kind of a pipe dream. Back in the day, when I wanted nothing more than to get out of here," he said, fastening the compass around his neck.

"Then why didn't you go?" she asked. He smiled.

"Your Mom, I guess. Ryan. It became more bearable. And Summer wanted to stay, I guess," admitted Seth.

"I can't believe you wanted to get out of here," said Kaya, eying the coastline, the row of beautiful mansions.

"I wasn't like you, Kai," he explained.

"How?"

"I was an emo geek. I listened to weird music and I was incredibly unathletic and I read a lot of comics," said Seth. His daughter analyzed him for a moment, remembering with guilt how she and her clique tended to treat that sort of person.

"You still kind of are," she said mildly. To her relief, she laughed.

"I stopped needing to change when Ryan came on the scene and started beating people up for me, and when your Mom and I began to date," he said.

"It's pretty romantic, how she was so popular and you were so… you know, and then you fell madly in love," said Kaya.

"I always thought so. Your grandparents are coming back soon," said Seth. Kaya smiled. She had a good relationship with Kirsten and Sandy.

"Cool, we going over there?"

"Yeah. Next week. Uh, Julie'll probably be there," he said nervously.

"She's not a relation," said Kaya stonily.

"Sure she is. She's your… Aunt in Law, or something. Jimmy's cool though," said Seth.

"Yeah, he's alright. But they're not together," said Kaya.

"Yeah, but they were. A long long time ago."

"In a galaxy far, far away, right?" asked Kaya innocently. Seth reached over and ruffled her hair. She faked a grimace.

"So, you looking forward to cotillion?" asked Seth.

"Sort of. It's kind of weird, the whole coming out thing. Kind of overplayed," she said.

"I always thought so. Jimmy Cooper got in a fistfight at ours," said Seth. Kaya giggled and dangled her fingers in the water as they sped through it.

"And not Uncle Ryan?"

"Nope, not that time," said Seth.

Kaya stared at her father for a moment. It was hard to be close to him-he was gone all the time, and Summer spent a lot of the time complaining about his faults, which made it harder for his good points to shine through. And he was fairly emotionally unattached. Knowing more of his past made him make a lot more sense to Kaya.

"I'm glad Uncle Ryan couldn't make it," she said suddenly. Almost instantly she felt embarrassed, for saying what she thought so plainly, but Seth smiled and struggled for an answer.

"Me too, Kai," he said at last. Kaya smiled at her father as they lapsed into silence.

The two of them stopped for Balboa bars on the way home. Summer was surprised and slightly envious when they arrived back, talking and laughing, smelling of the sea.

"Hey Summer," he said, greeting her. Hoping she was in a good mood.

"Cohen," she responded. Kaya looked on while she put her arms around his neck and kissed him. She couldn't help but smile as they moved closer together.

Kaya decided to leave them alone and moved quietly up the wide, sweeping staircase and then up to the third floor.

She paused tentatively on the landing when she heard a thumping in her room. The third floor was solely hers. She had a whole suite of rooms that her parents rarely had the courage to intrude on.

Cautiously she stepped onto the polished wood off the hallway floor and into the third door on the right-her bedroom. Her heart leapt when she saw a blondish male with his back to her. She relaxed when he turned-Garrett. Of course.

"Oh, thank god it's you," she breathed.

"Oh yeah?" he said, smirking.

"I thought you were a predator. How the hell did you get in here?" she asked. She approached the window, looking down the three floors into the enormous back yard and the sparkling blue infinity pool, with the luxurious pool house beside it. She turned her face to him again.

"Your Mom trusts me, remember?" he said.

"Good thing Daddy wasn't home," she said.

"You guys have a good time?" he asked.

"Oddly enough, yeah. We sailed, we bonded, he told me a lot about the old days," said Kaya.

"It's surprisingly interesting to hear about all that. Sometimes it seems like their lives were more dramatic than ours ever will be," he said.

"All the time. But I'm going to make my life dramatic," she said firmly.

"Want to start now?" he questioned. She walked forward and kissed him. They fell backwards on the bed, their movements practiced and confident. Kaya groaned as Garrett slid his lips down her abdomen and began to service her.

"So does Zannie know?" asked Garrett, once they were finished. Kaya sat up, naked except for the sheets wrapped around her, and watched as he dressed.

"No. She thinks I'm a virgin," said Kaya.

"Like her?" he asked, in an odd moment of protection for his slightly younger sister.

"Hey. I keep your secrets, I keep hers," said Kaya, walking on her knees to the edge of the bed and kissing him again.

"That's cool. I have to go," said Garrett.

"Why?"

"Kaya, you have to go to. Cotillion rehearsal? Like, now?" he reminded her. She leapt out of bed and began throwing on her clothing.

"I don't even have my date! Josh is out of town for the weekend! Oh, I'm so screwed," she moaned.

"I'll dance with you. Come on!" he said, taking her hand and practically dragging her out of the room and down the hall.

Summer raised her eyebrows when the two of them arrived downstairs, hand in hand, but said nothing when Kaya dropped his hand and made a show of wiping her hand on her skirt.

"We have to go," she said.

"Yeah, rehearsal starts soon and I have to start decorating with the other Newp… with my friends, and you guys need to waltz. I'll drive you," said Summer. The two of them followed her out.

They ran off to the ballroom together. Summer immediately took charge of the Newpsies, ordering them what to put where while Garrett and Kaya joined the others on the dance floor.

Garrett confidently put his hand on the small of her back while she put hers on his shoulder. Drawing closer together, they began to move to the hand clapping while the rest of the Newport looked on curiously.

"Everyone's already talking about you," whispered Zannie during a break.

"Oh, let them talk," said Kaya, throwing caution to the wind.

"Huh. Calvin's a terrible dancer. Where's Josh?"

"Oh, somewhere. Visiting someone. Your brother's good," said Kaya.

"Very aware of it, too," said Zannie, while the two of them began to laugh at his expense.

**Next chapter: In which grandparents are encountered.**


	5. No Glove No Love

Chapter Five: No Glove No Love

Summer Cohen was being obsessive again.

But this time, she wasn't doing it alone.

Kaya watched as her parents bustled around the house, making sure every surface was gleaming, every floor polished, every dish sparkling. She watched as her father joined her mother in being completely insane.

"_Oh well,"_ she thought to herself. "_At least they're doing it together."_

"So what's the big deal? The grandparents come over all the time," said Kaya.

"Yes. The grandparents do. But this is Julie Cooper, who is in a league of her own," explained Seth. Kaya raised an eyebrow.

"What Cohen is trying to say is that despite how great his parents are, Marissa's mother is a piece of work," said Summer.

"Okay. But what does she have to do with us?" asked Kaya.

"She's like a leech. She's desperate for family yet she invariably ends up pissing them off. She wants to be friends with Mom and then she ends up marrying Caleb," said Seth.

"Okay then. I'm just going to disappear for a few days, come back when it's over," said Kaya lightly.

"You can't. We need you. We need to plan a counter attack against the enemy. And we need all…"

"Obviously, your father is insane, but we'd like it if you could be around. Come on, Zannie and Garrett'll be here, and the good grandparents. It'll be fun," assured Summer. Kaya smiled weakly at her mother.

"Don't see how that's possible, but I'll give it a shot," said Kaya, smiling weakly.

Kaya waited behind her parents while they opened the door to the three "grandparents". She counted under her breath, getting to seven before the three of them noticed her.

"Kaya, you look so grown up," said Julie, kissing her stiffly on the cheek. Kaya smiled when the only hug she got was from Sandy-Kirsten was still not a hugger.

"How're things, kid?" he asked.

"Good. Just to warn you though, if your next question is how school's going, and the one after is what my favourite subject is, I might have to hurt you," she warned.

"We'll consider ourselves warned," laughed Kirsten, as the doorbell rang again.

It took Julie Cooper only four seconds to swoop down on her elder daughter, her detested son in law and her only two grandchildren.

"Marissa, you look lovely," she said first. Marissa faked a stiff smile.

"Thanks Mom, you too," she said.

"Ryan," said Julie, nodding toward him. Marissa rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Mrs. Cooper," he replied. Somehow they'd never fully moved on to 'Julie'.

"Hey, granny J," said Garrett, winking at Kaya when his grandmother turned away for a moment. Kaya stifled a giggle while Julie's smile began to look pasted on.

"It's Aunt Julie, remember Garrett? Hello Suzanne," said Julie. As the two embraced, Zannie mimed sticking her finger down her throat and gagging to Kaya, Kirsten and Sandy, who stood together. Zannie had stopped being Suzanne past her third birthday.

"Granny J," she said. Julie half managed a laugh. Only in her mid forties, she didn't desire to be called a grandmother, and encouraged her grandchildren to call her Aunt Julie-a plan which had backfired miserably.

The mismatched ten moved to the living room and sat stiffly on the perfect, rarely used white sofas and sipped their drinks.

"So, Kaya, how's school?" asked Julie. Kaya couldn't resist glancing over at her grandfather, who winked.

"It's fine," she said.

"Any boys?" asked Julie, winking, ever trying to promote her anti-grandmotherness.

"Not right now," she said.

"And anyway, Kai knows to be careful," said Seth. Garrett smirked.

"Of course," said Julie frostily.

"Come on Mom, if everyone used protection half the people in this room wouldn't even be here," said Marissa.

"Marissa!" protested Julie.

"Girl's got a point," agreed Sandy. Julie rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Of course, if you'd used protection I wouldn't exist and you'd still be in Riverside," said Marissa, under her breath. Kaya choked momentarily on a cracker at Marissa's comment. Julie glared frostily and swept dramatically out of the room.

"Only at the Cohen's, right?" remarked Seth. Summer couldn't help but smile at her husband, trying so hard to make the best of a bad situation.

"Sorry. She brings out the worst in me," said Marissa, looking over her shoulder, contemplating going after her mother.

"Sweetie…" said Summer gently, squeezing her best friend's hand.

"That's okay, Julie tends to have that affect," said Kirsten.

"Should someone go get her?" wondered Ryan.

"No, we should let her cool off. And she'd get too much satisfaction," said Marissa.

"And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why you should always practice safe sex," announced Sandy, smiling in spite of the awkwardness, in the way only he could.

"No glove, no love," agreed Kaya, managing to crack a smile. She blushed when the eyes of everyone in the room were suddenly upon her.

"Uh Kai… aren't you a virgin?" asked Seth, staring at his daughter. Kaya exchanged swift, pained glances with Garrett and the room fell silent.


	6. Problems Solved and Salted Wounds

Chapter Six: Problems Solved and Salted Wounds

Only Zannie seemed to notice the pained exchange of eye contact between the two, but she recognized it immediately, and leapt to her feet and pointed an accusing finger at the two of them, sitting innocently beside each other on the sofa.

"You're together? You two? Since when?" demanded Zannie. Kaya stiffened, but gasped when the tension in the room lessened, the parents sighed in relief. They seemed to think that Garrett was safe.

Kaya began to speak, but Garrett's voice overlapped hers:

"For a few months now, actually. We were afraid to tell you guys," said Garrett, taking her hand from where it rested, and silently praying she'd stick to his plausible story.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kaya saw her grandmother clutch her grandfather's hand in apparent shock, her father's eyes bulge out even further, amazement on the face of Marissa, and the usual poker face of Ryan.

Summer spoke first.

"You mean you're in a relationship?" she asked. Kaya nodded slowly, swallowing the guilty lump in the pit of her stomach.

"Have been for a while now," said Garrett, squeezing her hand. Kaya attempted to appear to welcome the unfamiliar feel of his gentle, pseudo loving touch.

"That's great," she said, her mood abruptly changing. Kaya sighed in relief and attempted to smile.

"Yeah," said Seth slowly, disbelievingly. Kaya blushed under her father's searching gaze.

One by one the rest of them uttered their disbelieving congratulations. Garrett smiled secretly, proud of his plan. In some ways, it was perfect. Both families were wealthy, but neither of the two were "purebred": Sandy was in Kaya's background, not the man that anyone would ever have wanted Kirsten with, and Ryan and even Julie clouded Garrett's family in the eyes of the pickiest Newpsies.

Zannie remained agonizingly quiet throughout the entire ordeal, worrying Garrett and almost frightening Kaya, who stared anxiously at her best friend of so many years.

Eventually the two of them managed to slip away from the excited gathering, most of whom, or so it seemed to Kaya, were already planning their wedding.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she demanded in a harsh whisper.

"I took the fall for you! How do you think your parents would take to the news that we've been sleeping together for months yet seeing other people?" he asked.

"But now we have to pretend to be together! Without breaking up, ever, because if we did "break up" they'd never stop scheming to get us back together! And by the way genius, way to make it so that we're never allowed into a room alone together ever again," she said in annoyance.

"It's not so bad. We say we're going to the movies and then we go to your room," he suggested. She resisted the urge to slap him.

"Yeah, because that's romantic," she spat back.

"Since when do you care about romance?" he asked coolly.

"I'm a girl, not your right hand. Remember that," she commanded, her eyes narrowing.

"This relationship is already working out super well," said Garrett sarcastically, as Summer's voice floated out to them from the kitchen, followed, amazingly, by a delighted chorus of giggles.

Ten minutes later the eight of them were sitting around the table, Garrett and Kaya mysteriously side by side, Zannie across from them, occasionally shooting out murderous looks.

"So, now that we know, are you guys going to go to cotillion together?" asked Marissa, as the meal went on. Garrett shot Kaya a sideways glance, begging her to follow his lead.

"Yeah, of course," said Garrett.

"So I guess that's why you didn't want a date? Because you didn't want your secret girlfriend to get jealous?" asked Zannie, her voice politely inquisitive but poisonous at the same time.

"Of course," said Kaya, answering ahead of him. Kirsten glanced over, and noticed how forced her look of tenderness appeared.

"Aww," purred Summer, not noticing anything amiss, always eager to hear of someone else's romance.

Seth continued to stare at his daughter, overlooking his wife's comment. He didn't want to believe it. He saw Garrett as a lot of what Ryan had once been, only more dangerous. Less sincere.

"So it's not remotely like kissing your cousin?" asked Sandy, unable to resist the dig. Kaya saw the look that Ryan shot him, the laugh that Kirsten held back, but she didn't understand why.

"Not at all," clarified Garrett, slinging an arm around the back of Kaya's chair.

"Well they're not related," said Summer defensively.

"Ryan is our legal son, as is Seth, so…" began Sandy.

"Sandy, don't," suggested Kirsten, laying a hand on his forearm. Kaya almost smiled.

"Because you know what this reminds me off?" persisted Sandy.

"Yeah, I know what this reminds you off," said Ryan, looking tense.

"It's okay, I don't mind," said Marissa, obviously holding back a laugh.

"What'd you do, date your cousin?" asked Garrett, not noticing Ryan's pensive look.

"His Aunt, actually," said Seth. Only he was surprised when after this, the table fell to silence.

The three Cohens waved goodbye to the four Atwood's and the elder Cohen's as they left the circular drive before Kaya was plunged into an inquisition.

"So, how long have you been with him?" asked Summer, sitting her daughter down.

"Three months," said Kaya.

"Has he cheated on you?" asked Seth. Kaya struggled for an answer. It was complicated-he didn't exactly cheat on her, he cheated on other girls with her.

"Of course not," she said eventually, attempting to look offended.

"Why did you keep it a secret?" asked Summer.

"Because I didn't want you to know," said Kaya.

"Does he ever pressure you?" asked Seth. Kaya gasped.

"Cohen, why do you always have to see his downsides? He's a good kid!" said Summer, her attention diverted from her daughter.

"Have you seen him? With his hair, and his… his…"

"3.0 grade point average? Sports legacy? Money? Manners? Excuse me, but his father's looks?" demanded Summer.

"Oh, you did not," said Seth, beginning to grow angry.

"Ever wonder what went on behind closed doors, Cohen?" asked Summer.

"I.. You… Ryan… I slept with Alex!" said Seth. Summer narrowed her eyes quizzically.

"As did Marissa. She's not exactly pure," shot back Summer. Seth's eyes immediately swiveled to where Kaya had been sitting, but thankfully she'd already left the room.

"Nice going," he said.

"How old are you, twelve? Way to get us in trouble with Mom. Oh no wait, I'm the mom, she's the daughter," said Summer.

"That did not even resemble clever," said Seth.

"I've heard worse," she said, turning away from him and gliding away from the room.


End file.
